


Let Your Heart Hold Fast

by castielfalls



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 04:08:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20203462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/castielfalls/pseuds/castielfalls
Summary: Meredith Quill, AKA Star-Lord, has spent the last ten years searching for her son in space. She's not going to give up now.





	Let Your Heart Hold Fast

"Star-Lord."

"Star-Lord, huh?" the bartender repeats, pushing the drink across the table into the expectant hand. He takes out a notebook and writes her tab down, noting, "You've racked up quite the tab here."

"They don't sell this particular drink everywhere and it's just too good," she answers as she gulps down the beverage. 

The bartender smiles, using one of his four arms to refill her glass as he tends to another customer, "Our specialty."

"An amazing one at that!" she grins, raising the glass in silent thanks as the bartender leaves to get someone else's order. She adjusts her jacket, hand smoothing over the leather-like material. Ego had given it to her almost eighteen years ago before he left for good. Her son used to wear it to school. She smiles sadly at the memory of how the sleeves hung past his fingertips. The big grin on his face when he donned the red jacket.

It has been ten years since Peter disappeared. He was only eight years old.

She shakes her head. No use thinking about the past. Meredith Quill didn't spend the past ten years in space to give up on her son now.

She pats her satchel, fingers grazing over the Ravager emblem engraving. She could feel the container of the priceless substance in it. A part of her felt guilty about double-crossing Yondu like this, especially since he agreed to help her out while she looked for her son in space. However, her son was more important than Yondu. The substance was presumedly wanted by the Collector, and he was said to know about a large part of the galaxy. She hoped that her toil in recovering it and getting it to Knowhere would give her at least something to work with, in her search for Peter. Yondu wanted the substance, he'd said so multiple times, but if Peter is still out there, she had to know. No matter what she has to do, she'll do it.

She gulps down the rest of the drink and waves goodbye to the bartender, a plastic smile on her face. She'd taken the break at the bar to calm her nerves before she made the trip to Knowhere but it didn't help. Her heart was beating out of her chest, now that the possibility of any information on Peter might surface.

Meredith settles down into her seat, exhaling her troubles out as she puts in one of her mixtapes to play. _Come and Get Your Love_ by Redbone starts playing and an instant grin shows itself as she starts up the ship. She was gifted the ship by Yondu when she turned 32 and she named it the Ryder, after Winona Ryder. She knew if Peter was around, he would probably have named it after his childhood crush, Alyssa Milano. She wonders if he had a new celebrity crush. She wonders if he has a romantic partner by now.

(If he's still around, anyway.)

She pushes down the emptiness in her heart and sings along to the song, trying to focus on the potential information about Peter that's right at the end of her fingertips if she just gets this substance to the Collector.

* * *

The moment Meredith shows the container's contents to the Krylorian girl at the doorway, she's shown into the Collector's lair. The place looks like a mess. She sees a man with white hair sitting among the rubble while a dog in a spacesuit sleeps by his feet.

"Collector? I'm Star-Lord," Meredith calls. "What happened here?"

"Some outlaws came with an Infinity Stone," he answers. Meredith had heard of the Infinity Stones before, but she didn't know much about them other than that they were supposedly very powerful. The Collector continues, "My moron of an assistant, Karina, she tried to hold it and... you see the outcome in front of you."

Meredith says sincerely, "I'm sorry about what happened... But I bring you this. I was told it was priceless?" She opens her satchel and reveals its contents to the Collector, who perks up at the sight of it.

"Priceless indeed," he mumbles, finally standing. He's taller than she thought he was (or maybe she was just shorter). He takes the container out of her bag, looking the contents over. It's a red liquid-like substance, constantly shifting, Meredith didn't know what it was. The Collector asks her, "Do you know what this is?"

"No. Do you?" Meredith replies, looking at the red substance shift through the rare container she bought for 3,000,000 units from the Broker.

"An Infinity Stone. Thank the stars Karina isn't around to touch this one," The Collector rolls his eyes, wrapping his hands around the container. "How much would you like for this? Name your price and it's yours."

Meredith answers, "I just want to know if you've heard of my son."

"Really? Just your son? Do units not interest you?" he asks, interested.

"I just want to find him, but thank you for the offer," she smiles.

The Collector nods, handing the container off to a Krylorian girl. She looks shaken. _Poor girl_, Meredith thinks, _she was probably present when the Infinity Stone exploded_. The Collector asks, "So, what is your son's name? I can't guarantee I know him, but --" An explosion outside interrupts them. Meredith yelps in surprise and the Collector sighs loudly, "Of course. Another interruption. What is it?"

The Krylorian girl shouts, "The Kree!"

"_Again_? After they did this to my territory?" he groans. He grabs a device and transfers a few million units to Meredith, mumbling, "Maybe another time, Star-Lord. Take this as a down payment for now. Come back again to ask about your son tomorrow." Before Meredith can say anything else, she's shown out by the Krylorian girl as the Collector goes to greet the Kree.

* * *

Meredith doesn't even make it to the nearest jump point to Knowhere when she's stopped by the Nova Corps.

"Identify yourself," the pilot demands.

"Star-Lord. I was just heading to the Badoon world," she replies. She wasn't, actually -- who in their right mind wants to visit the Badoon? -- but it was the first thing she thought of.

"It's her," the pilots says to his co-pilot. "Star-Lord, you're under arrest for the theft of the Aether."

Meredith panics. Yondu kept her out of prison while he has her under his wing but now that she wasn't with the Ravagers anymore, she's just here for the Nova Corps, out of all people, to take. She tries, "I don't know what the Aether is!"

"Did you steal a red substance from Svartálfheim?" the pilot asks.

"Well, yeah, but..."

"Star-Lord, you are under arrest. Do not resist." 

* * *

Meredith takes off running the moment the Nova Corps officers let their guards down. They start chasing her down the hall and she bumps into a green-skinned woman with dark hair.

"Help me. Please," she says. "I got arrested for stealing an Infinity Stone, but I didn't even know what it was, I was just trying to buy information about my son, please. I can't go to prison."

"An Infinity Stone?" the woman repeats.

"It was a red substance. The Aether," Meredith describes hastily. "Please, I can't be put away. I am so close to finding him."

The woman looks back at her comrades -- a muscular guy with red lines crawling across his body and a raccoon with a little pot in his hands. They all exchange strange looks with one another before the woman says, "Okay."

"Guardians. We were just apprehending her, but I guess you have it under control," the Nova Corps member says. "We'll take her from here."

"Actually, she's with us," the raccoon lies. "We were looking for her."

The Nova Corps members exchange looks before they just nod, one of them saying, "If that's the case... I mean, the Aether's being negotiated for from the Collector, right?"

The other member nods and says, "I suppose the Nova Prime will be fine with your release..."

"What about the Asgardians?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine. They know of the Collector."

As they walk away to talk to Nova Prime, Meredith turns to the Guardians, "Thank you so much. Thank you."

"No problem. What's your name?" the woman asks.

"Meredith Quill," she replies. "But I go by Star-Lord out there."

"I'm Gamora, that's Drax, this is Rocket," the woman introduces.

Rocket holds up the pot, "This is Groot. He hasn't grown yet, but he will."

"Grown?" Meredith repeats.

"He's a Flora Colossus. He'll grow," Rocket explains. "Anyway, what about you? You look Terran."

"Because I am," she says.

Drax questions, "What is a Terran like you doing in space?"

"I'm looking for my son. His father is a spaceman. When he disappeared, I thought maybe his father took him and hitched a ride with the Ravagers when they came by. They said they came for Peter, but the man who wanted him canceled their deal," Meredith answers.

"Then why aren't you with the Ravagers? I can't imagine they're very happy about you getting away and trying to sell the Aether," Gamora says.

"Yeah... I had to turn on them. I wanted to sell the Aether to the Collector in exchange for information he might know about my son, Peter. The Kree interrupted us and he had a Krylorian girl show me out," Meredith says, disappointed.

"I know what it's like to lose family," Drax says. "I would be more than willing to assist you with your beautiful search for your son."

"I would love to help you," Gamora smiles.

The two of them look at Rocket who begrudgingly mutters, "She ain't so bad to be around so far."

"Well, welcome to the Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord," Gamora says. "Do you have a ship? Ours got destroyed during the Xandar battle."

"I do!" Meredith says excitedly. Not only could she keep looking for Peter now that she wasn't getting arrested, she had a team to help her.

"Do you have a name for it?"

"The Ryder!"

"Nice."

* * *

It's been about a month since Meredith found the Guardians and she loves them. Then again, she loves everyone and everything. And then again, that doesn't change the fact that she genuinely loves them.

Though Rocket had been kind of mean at first, he'd eventually warmed up to her. She thinks part of his slightly improved mood had to do with Groot finally becoming a little sap. She discovered that Groot really enjoys her music and likes to dance with him to her tunes. She also learned that Drax despises dancing so every time he catches them, they freeze until he turns away. She learns some new fighting techniques from Gamora that she didn't know before. Meredith rarely fought -- she only fought when there was no other option -- but Gamora's training made her feel more confident when she was out. Also, Gamora learns the lyrics to Meredith's music while they train, which is totally a plus.

When Meredith sings a little off-key to her music, the Guardians only smile. Sometimes, Rocket hums along while Gamora lip-syncs. In the one month that they've been together, they've been on several missions, followed trails that turned cold and got closer. Meredith hopes they find Peter soon because she would absolutely love for her son to meet the Guardians.

_Peter Quill. I promise I'll bring you home._

* * *

"That'll be 1000 units," the bartender says.

"Can I open a tab? Put it under Star-Lord, please," Meredith asks. The bartender stares at her, his purple eyes looking suspicious.

He says, "That's not right. You aren't Star-Lord."

"Yes, I am," she insists.

"No, Star-Lord is a _guy_. He left half an hour ago. I'm not putting you under someone else's tab. I learned my lesson from the last time I did that."

Meredith's eyes widen and she can hear her heart like thunder in her ears. Star-Lord, only one other person knows this name as far as she knows... She used to call Peter that. Her little Star-Lord. "Is he blonde? Hazel eyes? Terran?" She feels her adrenaline climbing higher and higher.

"Yeah. Now that you're describing him, you look like him, a little," he notes. "He's about yay big." He holds his hand up to Meredith's height. "Uh, more or less, yeah. Terran kid."

Meredith transfers him a few thousand units, "Forget the tab. I'll pay for everyone here. Thank you so much. Did he say where he was going?"

"He was here with another kid, don't know who he is but he's got long hair and a cape. Think they said something about Asgard. Something about the Aether gone missing, blah blah blah... Can't remember," he replies.

"Thank you. Thank you so much!" she laughs, feeling happier than she has since Peter was taken from her. Peter is alive! He's just as tall as she is, if not taller. He's eighteen years old! He's not all alone in space! _He's headed to Asgard._

"We need to go!" Meredith shouts as she boards the Ryder.

Rocket jolts up, surprised by her sudden voice, "Go where?"

"Asgard!" she replies, trying to key in Asgard. "What are the coordinates?"

"I admire your ambition, Quill," Drax laughs. "Asgard is difficult to get to and even harder to rob."

Meredith sighs, running a hand through her hair as she tries to find Asgard in the coordinate database, "I'm not trying to steal from them. I'm trying to find my son. The bartender said he was going there."

"Are you sure it was your son?" Gamora asks.

"He said he looks like me and he opened a tab there under Star-Lord. I've never been to this bar before," Meredith explains. "What are the damn coordinates to Asgard?"

"Uh, yeah. Hate to break it to you. We can't go there. Asgard's hard to get to. There's a guy there who'll stop us even before we reach, he sees everything. Plus, we might need the Bifrost to get there and well, we don't have it," Rocket explains. "If we did, we'd be filthy rich."

"No, no, no..." Meredith mumbles, collapsing into the pilot's seat. "What's the closest place to Asgard, then?"

"Well, there's hearsay that the eldest prince likes visiting the planets under Asgard's protection," Gamora says. "One of them is supposedly Earth."

"I'm not going back there," Meredith says. "Not without Peter."

Rocket rubs his hands together in thought, looking over at Groot, "They gotta stop somewhere, right? And if he's putting tabs under Star-Lord, then maybe if we ask around a couple of bars for a male Star-Lord, someone will know something."

"Good idea!" Meredith says, keying in coordinates. "Where's the second nearest bar?"

* * *

They'd been to about seven bars in a row and Gamora, Rocket, and Drax decide that Meredith needs to slow down. She'd only been moving faster and faster, trying to get to the end of the trail before it turns cold. Each bar turned up empty -- either the tab was left a long time ago and served no purpose to their search or the tab was left mere minutes ago and they've already left for another destination.

"Meredith, you need to take a break," Gamora mumbles. "Go get a drink. Something to eat. Just... take a breather."

"Okay, okay," Meredith replies, leaving the ship. "I'm going to the bathroom and getting a snack. Do you guys want anything?"

Rocket waves her off, "Take care of yourself first, Quill. For once in your life." Meredith walks away, sighing as she thinks about Peter. He was so close yet so far. They always missed him by seconds.

"She needs to rest," Drax comments as soon as Meredith is out of earshot.

"It's her _son_, Drax. Of course, she won't rest. _You_ wouldn't rest if your daughter was still out there," Gamora replies. A clunking sound coming from below their ship snaps them out of their concern for their friend. Gamora calls, "Rocket, what are you doing?"

Rocket climbs down from the flight deck, muttering, "Not me. I was in the flight deck."

"Then who could that be?" Drax asks.

Gamora grabs her sword, saying, "I don't know, but we're going to find out." Rocket takes two smaller guns and Drax takes his knives as they follow Gamora out of the ship. The clunking sound freezes and there are quiet footsteps. Gamora shouts, "Stop! Name yourself."

"What if I don't feel like it?" the boy asks in response. He has a mask on, two red circles where the eyes are. Unruly blonde hair sticks out from the top. He has on armor that the Guardians have never seen before. It kind of reminds Gamora of Asgard. The boy has two guns that Rocket recognizes as a rare type of elemental gun.

There's a moment of quiet before the blasts begin to hit. Drax gets taken down by two shots while Gamora and Rocket are quick enough to dodge. Gamora tries to grab the guns from the boy and Rocket shouts, "Those guns are tailored to their owner! Taking it won't do anything!"

"It would disarm him!" Gamora replies, failing to snatch the guns.

"What the hell are you trying to do with our ship?" Rocket shouts, firing at the boy. The boy moves quickly, grabbing a bar on the side of the Brandy and swinging from it, kicking Gamora aside as he knocks one of Rocket's guns out of his hands.

"It looked a little bit like a ship I used to have," the boy answers. "Just trying to take back what's mine!"

Drax grabs the boy from behind, saying, "This ship has always belonged to our team. It's not yours."

The boy suddenly kicks his feet up and flips over in Drax's arms. Drax gets pulled down by the boy, who lands on his feet now that Drax's grip on him is released. Gamora swings Godslayer at him and he ducks in time, firing at her. She growls in annoyance, trying to grab the teenager.

"Hold still, you gremlin!" Rocket shouts, shooting at the masked boy. The boy laughs in his face and dodges the first blast, but he gets hit by the second. He goes down and groans, adjusting his armor before getting back up, taking a punch from Gamora. Drax swings his knives at him and almost nicks him before someone else joins the fight. It's another blonde boy, but this one has long hair, unlike the other boy. He carries a --

"Hammer!" Rocket warns. Mjölnir collides with Drax and he goes down _hard_. The masked boy drops to the ground to dodge the hammer.

"Rocket, the boy! I have the Asgardian!" Gamora shouts. Rocket pounces on him and the boy grunts, trying to shake him off. Rocket is persistent, slapping a device onto his back that shocks him. The boy yells in pain, trying to get the device off. The other boy looks mad and is about to use Mjölnir on Gamora when a voice interrupts their fight.

"What is going on?" Meredith asks. "Rocket, what are you doing? Stop it! He's a kid! He's..." As the device stops and the boy tries to recollect himself, a pang in Meredith's heart leads her to ask, "Peter?" The boy looks up, a hand slowly coming up to behind his ear to deactivate his mask. When the mask dematerializes, Meredith chokes down a sob.

"Mom?" Peter mumbles, eyes wide.

"Peter, my baby. My Star-Lord," Meredith cries, falling to her knees to hug Peter who's still trying to recover from getting shocked. Rocket awkwardly moves aside, tucking away the electrocution device.

"Mom, I thought you were dead," Peter says, his arms coming up around her to hug her back just as tight. She can feel him shaking in her arms -- he's crying too. "I thought I lost you."

Meredith pulls away, using her thumb to wipe a tear from Peter's face, "I thought I lost you too." She looks him over -- the armor that seemed to have been custom made for him, the two rare guns he has on him. His hazel eyes and messy blonde hair. A shaky smile.

"You've gotten so big!" she laughs, hugging Peter again.

"What are you doing here?" Peter asks once they pull again once more.

"I've been looking for you," Meredith answers. "The past ten years."

Peter frowns, looking away in shame, "I thought you died... I'm sorry I didn't look for you."

"It's okay. It's not your fault," Meredith says. A part of her wonders why Peter thought she was dead, but she decides to leave the question for later.

"I did wonder why my tabs kept rising, though," Peter chuckles.

"I know! Mine too!" Meredith laughs before she looks up at the other Guardians. A blonde boy with a hammer stands with them and she asks, "Who's that?"

Peter looks at the boy and takes a deep breath when he turns back to Meredith, answering, "Mom, this is Thor... my boyfriend."

"Your boyfr- _oh_!" Meredith says, surprised. In her eight years of knowing Peter, she hadn't thought he would end up with a guy, but there was nothing wrong with it obviously. She smiles up at Thor, who had come closer when Peter introduced him, and says, "Hi, Thor."

"Lady Quill," Thor greets. "Peter talks about you often. It's an honor to meet you."

"Aw, you talk about me?" Meredith teases. Peter flusters a little bit and the three of them laugh. Meredith even pulls Thor into a hug, which the Asgardian accepts enthusiastically.

"He tells his father stories about you all the time. My brother Loki and I have listened to some of your favorite music," Thor elaborates, smiling.

Peter was with Ego this whole time... She can't help but feel the slightest prick of anger and sadness at how much of Peter's life she'd missed. She hated that she couldn't be there for Peter when he was discovering who he was. She wanted to have been there to help him with his dates. She wanted to be by his side while they explored the galaxy together. She wanted to dance to their favorite songs and discover new ones along the way.

She just wanted to be a mother to Peter and Ego took that away from her. There is no chance in hell Meredith will ever forgive him for that.

* * *

"What have you been up to? Tell me everything," Meredith says, getting Peter and Thor something to eat from the Ryder's fridge.

"Well, Peter's father Ego wanted to forge good ties with Asgard so he brought him to meet us Asgardians," Thor starts. "I met Peter then. He was a moron."

"_Thor_," Peter whines, mouth full of Zargnuts.

Thor rolls his eyes as he says in a pretentious voice, "I mean he's the loveliest person I have ever met, nobody more perfect exists." Meredith laughs as Peter tries to press a kiss to Thor's cheek while Thor insists he swallows his food before kissing him.

"I wish I was around for all this. I hate that I missed out so much," Meredith says, pulling Peter to her side.

Peter nods, "I wish I knew you were out there... I would have gone looking for you."

"Anyway, you're here now, yes?" Thor asks, smiling.

"I can't believe you're really here with me again," Meredith says, pressing a kiss to Peter's forehead.

* * *

"Peter," Loki greets, a jovial smile on his face. Peter laughs and pulls him into a hug, the dark-haired boy returning it. His face falls into a faux-disgusted expression when his gaze falls on Thor behind Peter. "Thor." They'd been brought to Asgard by Thor, and the Ryder is now being repaired and cleaned.

"Don't be so honest with how you feel, brother," Thor jokes, grinning.

Loki eyes the strangers behind them and asks, "Who are they? You know Father doesn't like uninvited guests."

"I'm sure he'll like them!" Thor smiles. "They're the Guardians of the Galaxy!"

Loki blinks, "Who?"

Peter laughs at Thor's fallen smile and says, "They just killed Ronan, that Kree dude, and liberated the Power Stone. Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and Drax. The Terran is my mom."

"You're his mother?" Loki repeats, surprised. He bows once, "Pleasure to meet you, Lady Quill."

"Now, you don't have to do that," Meredith grins.

Loki gives her a polite smile, "You're Peter's mother. You've raised a semi-good child."

"_Semi_-good?" Peter frowns. "And here I thought you loved me."

"I do," Loki rolls his eyes. "Anyway, Father and Mother are coming."

Meredith looks up to see a man with a gold eyepatch and long white hair walking towards them with a beautiful woman with brown hair. The woman has a warm smile on her face while the man was neutral.

"Hello," the woman greets. "I'm Frigga, Thor and Loki's mother. This is my husband, Odin."

"Thank you for accepting my son as one of your own," Meredith says. "I know his father brought him here, but Peter told me how welcoming you all were of him."

"He's a wonderful boy," Frigga smiles. "Sometimes."

Peter scoffs, folding his arms, "_Sometimes_? I'm wonderful _all_ the time."

"Of course, you are," Thor mumbles, pressing a kiss to Peter's cheek, which he accepts wholeheartedly.

Loki makes a repulsive expression again, groaning, "Get a room."

"Loki," Frigga says pointedly. Loki huffs and walks away. Frigga just shakes her head as she watches him go, a faint smile on her face. She turns back to Meredith, "It's an honor to meet you at last. Your son is a good friend to my boys."

"I'm really glad about that," Meredith says sincerely. One of her biggest worries about Peter in space was that he would be alone and afraid. It was such a relieving moment when she heard from the bartender that he wasn't alone, and it was even more relieving to find out he had a partner. Thor seemed to really like her son and she can't complain. If Thor is willing to take care of and love him, then Meredith has no problem with him dating Peter.

Frigga holds out a hand in front of her, offering, "Let me show you around Asgard while the boys play. Your team can come along."

"Can we just see the armory?" Rocket asks. Frigga nods, waving over a butler to show them to it.

"Visitors aren't given access to certain parts of the armory, so please cooperate with the butler," Frigga says. Gamora nods, a silent promise to keep the other two Guardians in check, and Frigga walks on with Meredith. Once they're alone, walking together through Asgard, Frigga says, "You must have many questions."

"I do. How long ago did Ego bring Peter here?" Meredith asks.

Frigga answers, "I would say about seven years ago. Peter was eleven at the time. I remember because it was his birthday, the day he came to Asgard. Thor was so excited, he wanted to show Peter around. When Peter left, he was so sad." She laughs fondly, "He kept asking when he would come back, we had to ask Ego to bring Peter round more often."

"They're really cute," Meredith says. "How long have they been together?"

"As far as I know, three years," Frigga says.

"Three years doing long-distance?" Meredith asks, surprised. Just look at her and Ego. They're the perfect example of a failed long-distance relationship.

"Peter spends quite a bit of his time here, so we got custom Asgardian armor made for him. Thor and Loki train with him, you may have noticed his combat skills. There are some Valkyries that train them too," Frigga explains.

Meredith nods, before she asks the question that's been bugging her all this time, "Did Ego say anything about me being dead?"

Frigga pauses but answers truthfully, "He did, actually. I even offered my condolences. I was surprised to see you. I had been expecting Ego."

"Do you know where he is?" Meredith asks.

"We have the coordinates to his planet, but it's rather far. A couple of hundred jump points," Frigga says. "I don't know it specifically, but Thor and Peter do. Why?"

Meredith mutters, "I want to talk to him." She wants to talk to him, just very loudly and very angrily, which technically makes it not a complete lie.

* * *

After the Guardians are satisfied with exploring the armory and the boys return, Meredith asks Thor to bring them to Ego, to which the Asgardian prince agreed.

"It's been a while since I saw Peter's father. I would be happy to come with you," Thor says. Peter grins, clearly glad about Thor coming along, so Meredith doesn't say anything.

She pulls Gamora aside to talk privately, saying, "When we get to Ego, make sure the boys are distracted."

"Are you going to kill Ego?" Gamora asks, surprised. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"I'm not thinking about _killing_ him, I just want to get answers," Meredith says. "I want to know why my son thought I was dead. I want to know why he took Peter and didn't even tell me. I want to know why, while I was in space for ten years, Ego never once came looking for me. But I don't want Peter, or Thor, around for it. I'll let him know when the time's right."

"Of course, Meredith. Anything for you," Gamora nods. "You can leave them in my care, but I would recommend that Rocket come with you, at least."

Meredith folds her arms, sighing, "I'll think about it."

"You do that," Gamora says, patting her shoulder. "We're almost at Ego's anyway."

* * *

When they land on Ego, they're instantly greeted by Ego and a woman with antennae dressed in green. Ego actually looks shocked and speechless the moment he sees Meredith walk out of the ship.

"Meredith?" he calls out.

"Ego," she says bitterly. She's not normally this hateful. She's usually loving. She's the one who taught Peter how to love everyone. She doesn't have a hateful bone in her body and yet, as she looks at the spaceman she once fell in love with, she feels nothing but resentment for every minute Ego stole Peter away from her.

"Dad, I thought you said Mom died," Peter says, confused.

"Yes, Peter. I'll talk to you about it later. Why don't you and Thor, and your new friends, follow Mantis. Your mother and I are right behind you," Ego says. Peter nods and takes Thor's hand in his, following Mantis. Ego lingers and waits for Meredith to walk up to his side.

"It's been a long time," Ego starts.

"Ten years and counting," Meredith specifies. "Ten years I haven't seen Peter for."

Ego sighs, "Meredith, I love you."

"And that's not related to what we're talking about at all," she says, walking faster.

"Meredith, listen to me --"

"No, _you_ listen to _me_. I knew you would come back for Peter eventually, but I always thought that day would come after I was dead. But I guess I was dead, according to you," Meredith says, her anger finally over the tipping edge. None of the Guardians have ever seen Meredith angry before but they knew they never wanted to be on the receiving end of it. "Look, if you wanted to take Peter, you can't just take my son without asking or telling me first! I'm his mother! You gave me no chance to be his mom."

Ego tries a placating tone, "I'm sorry, Meredith."

"I don't want your apology. I just want my son back. When this visit's over, I'm taking him back to Earth."

"Meredith --"

"Don't say my name. I'm bringing him home. Or, at least, far away from you."

"I've been taking care of him!" Ego points out. "I've raised him for ten years! He grew up with a whole planet built for him. He has friends, a partner. He gets to train with Valkyries and hang out in Asgard!"

"You told him I was _dead_! You kidnapped him from me!" Meredith finally explodes. "I don't care how well you've taken care of him! You took Peter from me when he was eight and now, he's a teenager! He's two years away from being twenty! I spent my whole life caring about everyone else, but no. Not this time. I deserved to watch him grow up."

Ego is about to add something when Gamora appears at Meredith's side, her glare digging into him. "Do you need anything?" Gamora asks.

"I'm good. Thanks," Meredith says, walking ahead to catch up with Peter and Thor.

Gamora walks at Ego's side for a while before she says, "You remind me of my own father."

Ego looks at her in curiosity, "In what way?"

"He was a jackass," she answers, leaving him alone to walk with Drax and Rocket.

* * *

In retrospect, Gamora should have expected this, but it still catches her off guard when Nebula almost crashes a ship into her. It ends with a fight before Nebula lets her go.

"I win. I bested you in combat," Nebula says spitefully.

"You didn't win," Gamora says. "You let me go."

"Why can't you let me have this?" Nebula asks, cold stare boring into Gamora.

Gamora blinks before she frowns, "You came all the way across the galaxy just to win a fight against me?"

"You were the one who needed to win, and I just wanted a sister!" Nebula snaps. They abandon their fight after that, trying to find a way out of the cave their fight brought them to. The sight of white makes them freeze in their tracks.

"Are those skeletons?" Gamora asks, squinting to check.

"We need to get off this planet," Nebula says, looking at the horrifying number of skeletons and corpses.

* * *

"Meredith," Mantis whispers. "I need to talk to you."

Meredith blinks the sleep away and gets up, leaving the room to meet Mantis, "What's wrong?"

"I need to tell you something about Ego," she says. "He took Peter because he's been preparing him... Peter is a Celestial, a demigod. Ego wants to use his power to consume the universe. He told Peter you were dead so he wouldn't leave him, and he could properly raise Peter into helping him. He convinced Asgard into believing he was good so they wouldn't take action or have Heimdall watching his every move."

"You should have warned us earlier," Gamora's voice says from behind them. Gamora and Nebula walk up to them.

The two are surprised to see Nebula there, but Meredith asks, "You knew?"

"I wanted to tell you... the skeletons Gamora and her sister saw in the caverns are his other progeny, who didn't possess the Celestial gene like Peter did," Mantis says woefully.

"Oh my God," Gamora mutters, sighing. "We're going to have to kill him, aren't we?"

"We have to kill Ego before he consumes the universe," Meredith nods.

"She was talking about your son," Nebula says. Meredith's face falls instantly.

"What are you talking about?" Meredith asks.

Mantis explains, "Ego can't consume the universe on his own, he needs Peter's help. He would have him on his side by now, if he's raised him for the past ten years, making him think he's a good guy."

Gamora adds, "If Peter is gone, Ego will be easier to defeat."

"We are _not_ killing my son!" Meredith whisper-yells. "We're killing Ego. I'll talk to Peter and Thor. You get the others."

Gamora hesitates but nods, "As you wish. But if it comes down to it..."

"We are not killing my son," Meredith repeats firmly. "Get the others."

Gamora doesn't say anything else, leaving to find Nebula, Mantis, Drax, Rocket, and Groot. Meredith walks the opposite direction, trying to find Peter and Thor (who, she found out earlier on, have been sharing a room on Ego's planet, which makes it easier to find them.) When she reaches their room, though, she only sees Thor in the bed. Peter's body is missing from under the covers. She walks in and shakes Thor lightly, "Thor."

"Hmm?" Thor mumbles, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Oh, Lady Quill. Did you need anything?"

"Where's Peter?"

Thor looks around the room, "I'm sure Ego took him for a late-night walk. They do that sometimes. They'll be back soon, don't worry." Thor is about to go back to sleep when Meredith shakes him again. She repeats what she told Gamora about Ego and Peter's abilities and Thor sits up straight, finally fully awake.

"You are certain this is true?" Thor asks.

"Mantis told me and Gamora."

"Mantis has never lied..." Thor looks out the window in thought before he says, "Peter would never allow his abilities to be used for such a motive. Ego would use him as a battery of sorts. He will be in trouble." He quickly gets out of bed, putting on his armor, "We need to find them."

"Mantis and Gamora are getting the others right now. Do you know where they could be?" Meredith asks.

Thor picks up Mjölnir and says, "I have an idea."

* * *

"Peter, I think it's time," Ego says.

"Time for what?" Peter asks tiredly. Ego had woken him up just as he had fallen asleep with Thor's arm around him. He hadn't slept next to Thor in a while and he'd missed the feeling, so to say he was a little tired and annoyed was an understatement.

"The Expansion."

Peter notes, "Your purpose."

"Indeed. And now it is yours. To make everything... us," Ego says. "You have a light in you, Peter. Power. The Expansion is my purpose, but I could never do it without you. One Celestial is not enough, but two? More than we need."

"You're always talking about the Expansion but what is it? What do you mean by 'make everything us'?" Peter asks, confused.

Ego explains, "Every planet I've been on, I've planted a little bit of myself on it. And now that you are old enough, it's time. I'm going to help you unlock your power. Close your eyes. Imagine a light within you... Power..." Peter looks hesitant but obeys anyway, holding out his hands slightly as he closes his eyes.

"Bring the light within you. Feel it flow through you. Just focus," Ego says. Peter listens to Ego and focusses on "the light", feeling his palms heat up. "Yes! Peter, you did it!"

Peter opens his eyes, seeing his hands light up with blue energy. He exhales, "Oh my God... I have powers."

"You have powers!" Ego cheers. Peter grins, feeling his body take over as he slowly gains control over his powers. He never thought he had this within him. Ego says, "It's time for the Expansion, and I want you to help me."

Peter hesitates before saying, "You want me to help you consume the universe?"

"Everything will be us," Ego says. "There is nothing better than that, no greater meaning in life."

"I mean, I won't say there's 'no greater meaning'..." Peter says, suddenly unsure.

"What are you talking about? This was always the plan," Ego says.

"Always the plan?" Peter repeats, getting a sinking feeling. "Did you... Did you get me from Earth for this?"

"Of course!" Ego says, looking confused at Peter's fallen expression. "But I also took you from Earth because you're my son."

Peter points out, beginning to get upset, "But you left Mom and you said you loved her." Ego runs out of answers and Peter's patience was starting to wear thin. Peter pushes, "Why did you leave her? Why did you make me think she was dead?"

"Well, Peter --"

"You don't have any answers," Peter mutters. "All this time, I thought my dad was finally in my life, but it turned out to all be a lie."

Ego tries, "It's not a lie."

"How _isn't_ it?" Peter snaps, hands glowing. "You've been lying to me for ten years! About my mom, about why you took me from Earth!" He pauses to think about his life before he adds, "Did you set me up with Thor because you wanted Asgard on your side on this?"

"Thor was all you," Ego says. "I didn't think you two would get further than friends, but it didn't change anything."

"Didn't change anything? Like me being with Thor could have been a _problem_ for you?" Peter asks. "My life isn't for you to control! I can't believe you've been playing me like a puppet for ten years! You let me think my mother was dead!"

"Calm down, we can talk this out --"

"There's nothing to talk about!" Peter shouts.

Ego frowns, his friendly demeanor lost, and he says, "I wanted to do this together, but I suppose you'll have to spend the next thousand years as a battery!" Before Peter can react, a tendril of light comes up behind him and stabs through him. Peter gasps in pain as the tendril lifts him up, absorbing his power. Blue veins crawl across his skin as his power begins draining. Ego walks up to him and grabs the Walkman off Peter's belt.

"Leave that alone..." Peter says weakly, hand lifting slightly in Ego's direction in a useless attempt to stop him.

Ego hits play and Meredith's favorite song, _Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)_ by Looking Glass begins to play. Ego watches the Walkman with a neutral expression as a tear goes down Peter's cheek, remembering the ten years without his mother. Ten years he could have spent with her but thought that she was dead.

And then Ego crushes the Walkman in his hand.

* * *

Thor leads them to where Ego had introduced his life story to them. He says, "There is where I expect them to be."

"Then let's go," Meredith says, walking forward before all of them get blasted backward as the building emanates bright light.

"It's too late," Mantis says, eyes widening.

Meredith gets back up, saying, "No. We still have time if we hurry up."

* * *

Ego's frown deepens when he sees a faint smile on Peter's lips. He asks, "What? What are you smiling about?"

"I love my boyfriend," Peter says. Before Ego can respond, Mjölnir smashes through the window and collides with Ego, knocking him aside. The tendril that impaled Peter retracts and he falls to the ground. Meredith runs in and helps him up.

"Mom, I'm sorry," Peter says. "If I'd known Dad wasn't as good as he made himself out to be --"

"We were all fooled, Peter. None of this is your fault," Meredith says. Thor puts an arm around Peter's waist and Meredith holds onto him as Thor swings Mjölnir, lifting them off the ground and out of the building before Ego can recover and stop them.

* * *

"I'm not gonna stay here a second longer, we need to go," Rocket says, already keying in coordinates into the Ryder's interface.

Gamora says, "We can't leave. We need to kill Ego."

"The planet has a center, his brain," Mantis offers.

"We need to get all the way down to it. Kill the brain, kill him," Gamora nods.

"How do we get there?" Thor asks.

Rocket shrugs, navigating the ship's weapons system, "We dig."

A blast starts penetrating the surface of the center. A booming voice shouts, "Peter! You can't hide from your purpose!"

"You mean _your_ purpose! I'm not helping you consume the universe!" Peter yells back. He gets into the co-pilot seat and says to Rocket, "Shoot harder!"

"This is as hard as it's gonna fire, kid!" Rocket shouts back over the firepower.

"We need to take him down if we're gonna get to the core!" Gamora says into the communicator. "Without him down, we're not getting far."

"I'll join you in a bit, you go down and get a head start," Peter says, figuring out the weapons. Gamora, Nebula, Mantis, and Drax jump out of the ship onto the ground. Drax asks, "How do we take him down?"

"I think I can," Mantis says, bending down. She places a hand on an exposed vein, shouting as her antennae glow brightly, "Sleep!" The glow instantly dissipates and Mantis exhales, trying to gain her bearings.

"You did it," Drax says, astonished.

"I don't know how long I can hold him," Mantis warns.

In the ship, Rocket has constructed a bomb with Anulax batteries he'd stolen long before he'd come across the other Guardians. Meredith asks, "What are you making a bomb for?"

"We're blowing his brains up with this," Rocket answers. "Just need to find an opening when we're off the ship."

Thor gently places a hand on Peter's cheek, asking, "Are you alright?"

"With you, I always am," he replies, smiling weakly. "No matter what happens out there, my mom is the priority."

Thor is hesitant but he eventually nods, pressing a kiss to his cheek, "As you wish, Peter. But if anything goes wrong, I'm coming back for you."

"My _mom_, Thor."

"Your mother," Thor affirms. "But I will come back for you no matter what."

Peter kisses Thor on his lips before he activates his mask, grabbing his guns, "It's go time."

Peter, Rocket and Groot exit the Ryder as Meredith putting on an aero-rig. She asks, "What did Peter talk to you about?"

"He just said good luck," Thor replies, holding out a small device. "Peter has an extra mask, by the way." Meredith accepts it with a smile, hooking it over her ear. She presses the button and a mask forms over her face. It looks just like Peter's. Thor smiles and they both get off the Ryder, meeting up with Gamora, Nebula, Mantis, and Drax. Peter, Rocket, and Groot have already separated from them.

"They're finding an opening," Gamora notifies.

"What do we do now? Ego's down under," Meredith asks.

Just then, a rock knocks into Mantis and she collapses. The veins begin to glow again as Ego regains consciousness. Nebula promptly bends down to help Mantis up and says, "I suppose we're to keep him busy until they find that opening."

"Not a problem," Thor mutters, swinging Mjölnir as his eyes begin to glow.

* * *

"Found an opening!" Rocket calls out.

Peter flies over and looks down the hole, "I'm not sure if you realize this, but neither of us can fit in there."

"Do you think the bomb will miraculously plant itself onto the brain if I let it slide down the whole way?" Rocket asks, only slightly joking. Peter stares at him before he looks over at Groot, who's playing with a leaf on his shoulder absentmindedly. Rocket immediately says, "That's a bad plan."

"It's the only plan we've got," Peter replies.

Rocket sighs and calls Groot over, beginning to instruct him on what to do when he gets the bomb to the center. However, before he can properly ensure that Groot knows exactly what to do, Groot runs off with the bomb. Peter and Rocket watch the young tree disappear from their line of sight, dumbfounded, and Rocket mutters, "We're gonna die, aren't we?"

* * *

Thor uses Mjölnir to smash at tendrils as they come at him. Meredith shoots at them as Gamora and Nebula slash at them.

"Where is Peter?" Ego shouts.

"None of your business!" Meredith replies, firing a shot towards his face. A tendril stops the blast before it hits him and knocks her aside. Thor jumps in and strikes lightning to Ego. It hits him and he groans, but tendrils quickly come at him from all directions. Rapid firing of blasts stops the tendrils as the shooters stop in front of Thor.

"Peter!" Thor says, smiling.

"Hey, Thor," Peter greets back. "Groot ran off with the bomb so if nothing goes wrong, we've got five minutes to jet."

Meredith orders, "Drax, get Mantis to the ship." Drax obeys, picking Mantis up bridal style as he begins heading back to the ship. Just then, the ground cracks open underneath them and split the group up. Gamora falls off a cliff and Nebula jumps down after her, grabbing her arm and hanging onto the side of the cliff. With a grunt, Nebula swings her up onto the surface before she herself follows. They're separated from the others. Above, the tendrils have large rocks attached as they attack Meredith, Rocket, Peter, and Thor.

"I didn't have a problem with you when you and Peter started dating, but you're starting to annoy me," Ego says, some thick tendrils grabbing onto Thor and throwing him aside. Caught off-guard, Thor lets go of Mjölnir and starts to fall.

"Thor!" Peter shouts, activating his mask and flying after him.

"No, you're staying here," Ego says. Tendrils cling to Peter and drag him back down to the ground. Meredith and Rocket fire at the tendrils, trying to free Peter.

"I love you, I'm sorry, my river lily," Ego says, tendrils stopping her and Rocket from shooting at him. The two of them are pulled to the ground, as hard as they try to break free. Below, Gamora and Nebula are trying to climb back up to the fight, but tendrils wrap around their necks and begin to suffocate them. The ground under Drax's feet turns to sand and he starts to sink. He holds Mantis above his head to save her. Groot starts to cry as the tunnel gets narrower. Tendrils pull Thor down. He summons Mjölnir and tries to break free, but he can feel his knees begin to dig into the ground.

Multiple tendrils stick themselves through Peter and he feels himself weaken as they drain him of his power. He tries to summon some of his newfound power but, as hard as he thought, he couldn't conjure up anything.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Peter says, feeling tears brimming. "I can't do it."

"Let your heart guide you," Meredith says. "My little Star-Lord."

_Listening to music with Meredith in the grass. Kissing Thor in the streets of Asgard. Talking about astrology with Loki. Dancing to music with Thor. Finding Meredith again and hugging her for the first time in ten years._

The ground begins shifting underneath his feet as Peter's hands curl into fists, his glare growing colder the longer he looks at Ego. He mutters, "You shouldn't have taken me from my mom and squished my Walkman."

He breaks free from the tendrils and grabs Ego, punching him as both of them fly through the air. Ego tries to dodge, but Peter gathers stone around his fist and smashes it into Ego's face repeatedly. The tendrils begin to release the other Guardians. Gamora and Nebula catch their breaths and continue their climb to the surface. Groot manages to find his way to Ego's brain. Rocket and Meredith break free. Thor uses Mjölnir and flies back to the fight. Ego shoves Peter off of him and gives him a hard hit, sending Peter flying into stone. Peter crawls out of the wall and flies back to Ego, engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

Rocket flies back to the tunnel he'd sent Groot down and shouts, "Groot! Groot, if you can hear me, you need to plant that bomb and get out of there and back to the ship!" Groot, by some miracle, doesn't mess up the order, and he starts running back out of the tunnel.

"We need to get to the ship now!" Gamora orders.

"I'm not leaving without Peter!" Meredith shouts back.

"Lady Quill, we need to go," Thor says.

Meredith insists, "I didn't spend the last ten years searching for him just to let him die fighting his dad!"

Thor says, putting his hands on her shoulders comfortingly, "I promised Peter that you are the priority. I will go back for him. Please, Lady Quill."

Meredith shakes her head, "I'm sorry, Thor. I can't leave him."

A taser from behind knocks Meredith out cold. Rocket is behind her and he says guiltily, "If I don't do that, she's never leaving."

Gamora carries Meredith and asks Thor, "Will you be fine here?"

"Of course," Thor says. "Just get yourselves to the ship. I will meet you."

Gamora nods, "Good luck."

"You've got a minute to get him and get outta here before the planet explodes," Rocket tells Thor. Gamora, Nebula and Rocket, with Meredith in tow, start heading to the Ryder. Rocket makes a stop to pick up Groot from the tunnel. Drax and Mantis are already there.

Meanwhile, Peter and Ego are still exchanging punches and blasts. At this point, Ego finally realizes something's wrong.

"We have to stop it!" Ego shouts. "The bomb!"

"No, we have to stop _you_," Peter replies, hitting Ego.

"What are you doing? If you kill me, you'll be just like everyone else!" Peter holds Ego's collar in his fist, seeing the man he thought of as a great father for the past ten years, watching all those great memories dissipate into hate.

"What's so wrong with that?" Peter mutters. It's then that the bomb explodes and Ego crumbles into dust. Peter watches the light go out of his hands. Just like everyone else.

He just sits there. He'd given his aero-rig to Drax earlier on and he lost his powers, so flying out of there isn't an option. He hopes Meredith, Thor, and the Guardians got away. Just then, he feels an arm wrap around his waist as they break the planet's atmosphere.

"Thor, you're here," Peter exhales.

Thor smiles down at him, saying, "I did say I would come back for you. Please activate your helmet." Peter obeys, turning it on just as they enter space. The Ryder waits for them just outside the planet as it explodes below them.

* * *

"That was wild," Rocket says. "I don't wanna meet another Celestial again, what a nightmare."

"Uh, _rude_," Peter says sarcastically. "I'm a Celestial." They were back on Asgard. The Ryder was getting repairs and fuel. Thor's family invited them to a nice meal.

"You _were_ a Celestial," Rocket corrects. "Now you're just a plain old Terran."

"Yeah, a plain old Terran," Meredith laughs. "That sucks."

"Actually, it's not so bad," Peter smiles. "I'm really, really glad you're back here with me, Mom."

Meredith grins and pulls Peter in for a hug, "Me too, Star-Lord. Me too."

* * *

"Thor, can I talk to you?" Meredith asks.

Thor nods and follows her to the hallway, away from the others in the dining hall. He asks, "Can I help you?"

"I wanted to say thank you. You know, for everything," Meredith says. "One of the biggest things I worried about when I realized Peter was taken to space, was if he had any friends if he was lonely. I thought Ego was still good then, so I didn't worry about that, but I didn't want his only friend up there to be his dad. I'm happy he has friends like you and Loki. And I also wanted to thank you for not leaving him back there."

"I promised him that I would keep you safe," Thor says. "I also told him I would go back for him no matter what."

Meredith smiles, pulling him into a warm hug, "I can't ask for anyone better for my son, Thor. Thank you."

"Thank you for giving the universe someone like Peter," Thor says, grinning as he returns the hug. "Your son is very special."

"I know he is," Meredith says.

"Are you going back to Midgard -- Earth after this?" Thor asks.

Meredith shrugs, "I'm not sure yet. I always thought we would both go back once we found each other, but it's different now. I have the Guardians... Peter has a whole life here on Asgard with you and your people. We can't up and leave when we want to."

"For what it's worth, I hope you both stay," Thor says.

They stayed.


End file.
